Rare native falcon hatches

'It's a tiny wee blob'

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They swooped, dived, clawed and even drew blood – but in the end a pair of adult falcons could only watch while their chick was banded.

The chick, thought to be male, became the first in Wellington to be banded yesterday – despite the aerial protestations of its parents.

The 10-day-old chick has hatched to a pair of native falcons nesting at the Zealandia sanctuary in Karori.

The sanctuary called in the assistance of Wingspan, a company that bands birds of prey, and yesterday research development manager Richard Seaton had the job of fixing an orange band around the chick's right leg.